Bill and Melinda Gates, co-founders of the world's biggest private foundation, shared their 2020 Annual Letter on Monday, entitled "Why We Swing for the Fences: Reflecting on the First Two Decades of Our Foundation."

In this year's letter, the couple reflected on what they've learned over the past two decades and how the world – and their work – has changed during that time.

According to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the letter took inspiration from advice given to the couple by Warren Buffett: to "swing for the fences" and "put the full force of their efforts and resources behind the big bets that have the most potential to save and improve lives."

The couple wrote: "At the core of our foundation's work is the idea that every person deserves the chance to live a healthy and productive life. "Twenty years later, despite how much things have changed, that is still our most important driving principle."

The letter explained why they think the risks they've taken in global health and education have set the world up for future progress. They also wrote about two areas that have emerged as priorities for them – the climate crisis and gender equality – and how they will factor into their work over the next 20 years.

"There is no question that this new decade is beginning at a time of tremendous unrest and uncertainty around the world," the couple declared. "But even in a moment as challenging as this one – in fact, especially in a moment like this one – we remain committed to supporting advocates, researchers, government officials, and frontline workers who are making a healthy and productive life possible for more people in more places."

This includes those who are working tirelessly to respond to the new coronavirus outbreak, according to a statement of the Gates Foundation. 

On Feb. 5, the foundation committed up to $100 million for the global response to improve detection, isolation and treatment efforts; protect at-risk populations in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia; and accelerate the development of vaccines, drugs and diagnostics. 

Bill and Melinda Gates are closely following the outbreak and are committed to contributing to the global response to help bring this epidemic under control, said the statement.

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